Sailor Moon: Light and Shadow - Book One: The Opposing One
by Mide
Summary: Usagi Tsukino begins journey to becoming Sailor Moon, she soon meets someone whose interest in her is hard to place. Who is she and what does she want? Luna is sure she's an enemy, but something in Usagi's heart won't agree. Usagi will learn that the real world is far from simply black and white, and that even when the moon shines its brightest, it always has a dark side.
1. Usagi's Rude Awakening

On a wondrous planet, within a grand palace, a beautiful princess dressed; in a white and gold gown ran through its halls, seeking a special someone.

It was her handsome prince, clad in resplendent black regalia.

The two were soon in each other arms, both the prince and princess moved in for a kiss.

Only for the princess to find herself completely underwater!

The water was cold; it was draining her strength!

"Aaaaahhh!"

"Quickly, the princess needs her scuba gear!" A young girl yelled.

The young girl had blond hair in long ponytails with odango buns, shot straight up in her bed and proceeded to blurt out some non-sequitur lines.

This is Usagi Tsukino, age 14, who goes to Juuban Public Middle School. People often say she a bit of klutz, and a little emotional.

Upon gaining full wakefulness, the fourteen year old soon realized that her face was soaking wet, which probably had something to do with her dream turning into nightmare.

"You know, I expected that the reaction would be interesting, but those lines are in a class of their own." A voiced spoke, filled with mirth.

The voice belong to a girl sitting on Usagi's bed, the girl had violet eyes, her hair was also blond and done in ponytails like Usagi, but hers lacked buns, instead the tails was held up by a pair of black ribbon bows.

This is Urufu Yuzuko, Usagi's oldest friend, age 15, who also attends Juuban Middle School, and is in a grade higher than Usagi. Said to be a tease, and a little bit mean.

Urufu happened to be holding an empty glass cup; Usagi realized that this was likely the source of her now soggy condition.

"You did this!" she accused.

"Why, excellent deduction my dear Bun-Bun." came Urufu's smug reply. "And a good morning to you."

"Why?"

"Well, how else was I going to wake you?" the ribbon haired girl asked, answering the question with a question.

"NOT WITH WATER." The moist girl answered back fiercely.

Usagi was starting to realize that Urufu wasn't even a bit remorseful about her actions.

At this point Urufu put the cup down and stood up, crossed her arms and looked her childhood friend straight in the eye.

"Alright speaking seriously; Usagi you and I both know exactly what it takes to you wake up in the morning. Because..."

Blued girl didn't answer immediately, not wanting to admit what they both knew.

"Usagi." the older girl prompted.

Usagi sighed "Its because you have the exact same problem waking up in the morning as me."

"Precisely," Urufu nodded. "So I wouldn't use a method that wasn't effective on you, if didn't work for me as well."

"I just wish you wouldn't use such unusual methods."

At this point Usagi gave up. She wasn't going to get an apology out of her friend, if Urufu didn't feel sorry.

Urufu had always been the kind of person who did things her own way, even if they sometimes went against what other people thought of as normal, right or okay.

"If it works, it works" her friend replied nonchalantly.

"Beside," she continued, pointing to Usagi's alarm clock.

"Now you're wide awake with plenty of time to get to school."

The time was 7:30am; Usagi noted that it was a vast improvement on her usual wake up times, which were often after 8 o'clock.

"It's so early, too early." The younger girl yawned, looking like see was about to collapse on to her bed and return to the Land of Nod.

"Oh no you don't." Urufu said, wagging her finger. You're not going back to sleep and ruining my efforts.

"Okay, okay. It's not as if I could get back to sleep with my face and hair, and bed squelcly anyway." Usagi voiced sullenly.

"That's why it's so effective." was the older girl's reply as she pulled a towel from her school bag.

"I grabbed a towel from your bathroom; I'll help you dry off and so you can get ready."

"Thanks Urufu." Usagi said. Her oldest friend could be a bit abrasive, but Urufu wasn't a jerk.

* * *

With her old friend's assistance, it wasn't long before Usagi was dressed for the school, currently the girls were in front of her dresser mirror, the older girl was brushing her hair.

"You're in your uniform, you coming to school today?" Usagi asked.

"Yay, I thought it would be good to do some socialising with Juuban's student body." Her friend answered. "Gotta avoid becoming socially odd."

"Odd… like pouring water on people's heads in the morning." Replied Usagi, her eyebrow raised for emphasis. "Then I'm afraid it's already too late Bow-Wow." She continued, using her personal nickname for friend.

"Holding a grudge is bad for the skin Bun-Bun." Urufu countered without pause, using her own personalized nickname for Usagi, whilst grabbing some bobby pins from the dresser drawers to hold Usagi's buns up.

"I would believe that if it wasn't coming for you Urufu." Over the years Urufu would occasionally take advantage of her gullibility to feed her misinformation, which lead to incidences of her looking, saying or doing something that her look strange.

So she had learnt to identify her friend's tall tales… some of the time.

"Well I can't argue with that." Urufu conceded, knowing what she was referring to. "There, all done." She announced, as she stuck in the last pin. "What do you think, how I'd do?"

Usagi touched her odangos, testing the firmness of their shape.. "Yay they'll hold, good job Urufu."

"Thank you, I'm happy to see my practice is starting to pay off."

Tying odango buns wasn't exactly like tying hair bows, which had often lead to painfully incidents of Urufu knotting her own hair when she rehearsed at home.

Urufu looked at the clock. "Alright, so we've got 20 minutes to get to school, so plenty of time for breakfast."

"Let's go, your mom making chocolate-chip waffles, my favourite."

"Really? Great. I'll take twelve." Usagi said with glee, and then asked. "Wait how could you tell?"

Urufu tapped her nose to illustrate. "The nose knows Usagi, I can smell the batter cooking and chocolate melting in the kitchen from here."

"Oh right I forget." Urufu had started developing a sharp sense of smell for some time now; it still surprised Usagi when she revealed something claiming her sense of smell told her.

"I wonder how your nose got so strong?" she asked as they headed down the stairs, Urufu in front.

"Well it could be puberty? Getting older and all that." Urufu speculated.

"Maybe you'll develop a super-sense as well."

"Really, like what?" the younger girl asked eagerly. She was interested, maybe having a stronger sense could help her be less clumsy.

"Well that's obvious isn't it Bun-Bun," the older girl placed her hands behind her head, waving them up and down. "Super-hearing, just like a real rabbit."

"Very funny," She answered fatly, _enough with the jokes already._ She humphed internally.

"No I'm serious." Said Urufu, as she started down the stairs, "Just think of the possibilities, you"ll be able to hear things from far away, like a real superhero."

That got her thinking, it would be pretty amazing using hearing to track down criminals, capturing and taking them to the police.

"That would be cool." Usagi admitted. _The best part_, she thought, _no one ever accused a hero of being clumsy or a whiner_.

Unfortunately Usagi choice to indulge in her superhero fantasies on the staircase, caused her to miss a slip, and then fall right into Urufu.

Usagi's momentum sent the two pigtailed girls tumbling down the last flights of steps to the first floor with a resounding crash.

"Owie" they both cried at once.

A concerned voice called from the kitchen.

"Usagi, Urufu. Are you alright?"

Both girls answered.

"No Mom." Replied Usagi.

"No Aunty Ikuko." Replied Urufu.

"We're not alright!" They yelled at the same time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My first Sailor Moon Fanfic, I hope to do this franchise justice.

Some of you may have an idea of who Urufu is, you guessed right, then I hope you enjoy what I have planned.

Feedback and criticism are welcome.

Happy Holidays everyone.


	2. Breakfast and a Blad Spotted Kitty

Luckily for the Usagi and Urufu, the smell of rich buttery waffles with chocolate chips was more than enough incentive for both of them to quickly recover from their injuries.

Theo girls were soon seated at the kitchen table and were now consuming astounding amounts of cooked batter, maple syrup and butter, all of which were being washed down with glasses of milk.

"Well, you two certainly bounced back quickly." Ikuko Tsukino, Usagi's mother observed.

The young housewife sweat-dropped as she watched her daughter and her daughter's close friend wolf down, from what past experience had taught her, was their normal morning caloric intake.

Not that Ikuko minded the now large reduction in their waffle mix supply; Urufu was practically her family.

The bonds between her family and ribbon haired girl often made the 'practically' part of the statement moot, afterall there _was_ a reason the older girl called her Aunty.

_Thinking of family…_ The young mother realized.

"Urufu sweetie, how are your father and sisters, are they doing well on their travels?"

The ribbon haired girl looked up from her plate, having just finished her seventh and apparently last waffle, judging by the fact she didn't reach for another.

"Yes, everyone's fine, I called them yesterday and their all doing ok." She replied while wiping her month.

"And what about you Urufu, how are you doing?" The purple hair woman asked with motherly concern.

Blond girl smiled. "Don't worry Aunty; I know it's been about a year since I came back home. But I'm doing fine on my own."

Ikuko gazed at the girl, still surprise how independent Urufu was becoming. The fifteen year old had basically been living by herself for 6 months now with just her maid, while her family was still on vacation, and yet she didn't seem bothered by it all.

It was a change from her former, more carefree manner, which had been somewhat similar to Usagi.

_She's been like this since she back for that trip that she, her dad and her sisters went on 2 years ago. I wonder what changed. _The purple haired mother wondered.

"Besides, whatever I can't handle, Karasu is there to assist me." She continued.

"Alright then, just don't overwork your maid, OK."

"Not at all, I leave only the truly difficult tasks to Karasu." Urufu stated.

"You mean like, getting you up in the morning." Said Usagi suddenly, mouth full of food. Her question sounded more like a statement

"Usagi dear… don't talk with your open full."

The fourteen year old swallowed and apologised. "Sorry Mom."

"Well someone has to help me make sure my wake up methods will be effective on you." Urufu explained with a smirk on her face.

Usagi gave the other girl a dry look. "I don't know what's worse, your techniques," then she looked over to her mother, "or the fact that my family gives you permission to do so."

"Considering that your attendance record has improved considerably since she started, I don't really see the problem." Her mother explained. "School attendance is important."

"But what about my waterlogged bed sheets." her daughter grumbled.

"That's what we have the Dryer for Usagi." Ikuko countered.

"Why is no one is ever on my side these weekday mornings!" She complained throwing her hands in the air.

Sighing at her daughter's dramatics, the housewife turned attention to the other blond. "Just remember to run your methods by me first, ok Urufu. I don't want anything too extreme."

"Sure thing Aunty Ikuko."

"And please let us know if you need anything at all, remember that your father asked us to look out for you."

"Rest assured I will Aunty, thank you." The older girl replied with a smile and a nod.

Pleased by the reassurance that the older girl would come to her for help if she needed, the young mother glanced at the wall clock. "It's almost 7:50, you girls should get going now."

"Oh you're right," Urufu also checked the clock "we better go Usagi." She stood, and Usagi follow suit, but younger stopped and looked at the remaining waffles.

"Maybe just one~ more," Usagi said, reaching for another waffle, but her hand was intercepted by a spatula.

"I think you've had enough Usagi dear, I didn't give birth to bottomless hole." Her mother stated in sarcastic tone.

"What's does that mean?" Usagi seemed genuinely confused.

"It means… Go to school already!"

"Ok, Ok. I'm going, I'm going!" She turned and fled from the kitchen.

"Usagi!" Ikuko called.

"What? I said I was leaving." Usagi yelled from the hallway.

"I know, but don't you need your lunch." Her mom said.

Usagi looked back into the kitchen; her mother was holding her lunch box, wrapped in her favourite crescent moon printed napkin.

The scene brought a flat look to her face. "Thanks Mom." She said, before grabbing the packed lunch and towards the front door.

"You're welcome dear, both of you be careful ok." Her mother said.

"We will~" Usagi replied before closing the door.

Sitting down at the table, Ikuko signed.

"What I am a going to do with those two; Urufu seems to be maturing too quickly and Usagi too slowing."

_Well I'm sure they'll keep each other in check somehow, they always have before._ The blue eyes woman contemplated.

She turned her attention to the morning newspaper on the table. Its front page headline read: "**Sailor V Saves the Day with Assistance from Her Known Rival Oppositio I!"**

* * *

"What kept you?" Urufu asked as she saw her friend exit her house.

"I also forget my lunch." Uasgi answered as the two of girls started walking towards their school at a brisk pace .

"Well we can't have that now, can we?" The older girl said with a grin.

"Ha ha ha." The younger girl's dry laughed. "I don't why your making fun of me Urufu, you eat as much as I do."

"You had eight waffles." Ribbon wearing girl stated.

"And you had seven, which hardly makes a difference." Usagi countered.

"I think it does." Urufu replied with her nose in air.

As the two blondes continued their back and forth, they passed near a parking lot, when an unusual bunch of sounds caught their attention.

The cause of the ruckus was a trio of little kids, two boys and one girl, who appeared to be struggling to hold down a black cat, said cat was definitely not enjoying whatever the kids were doing to it, if its yowls of protest were anything to go by.

Their behaviour did NOT sit well with Usagi at all.

"Hey, stop that you little meanies." she yelled running at them.

When the kids saw her coming, they made a run for it. Or at least tried to, they didn't get far before Urufu placed herself in their path of escape.

"And where do you think you little terrors are running off to. I think we need to have a little talk about bullying animals." Urufu was smiling at them, but there must have been something scary about it, because the children were too frightened to move while she did so.

Apparently, Urufu was NOT happy about their behaviour either.

Usagi looked on as she watched her friend harshly scold the brats for a full two minutes. A drop of sweat rolled down her brow, "I guess I've forgotten how fierce Urufu can be at times." she looked back at the black cat, it appeared to have be exhausted by its ordeal and was lying limp in her hands. "I never took her for a cat lover though."

"And remember, I know where you all you live!" Her friend yelled as the trio of kids ran off, likely have been dismissed by her.

"You don't really know where they live… you do?" Usagi asked, as Urufu came over to them.

"No, but fear is a good motivator for them to learn their lesson. Although I could find them, if I wanted to." Urufu stated.

"What?"

"I'm just kidding. So how's the kitty cat?" She asked.

"Seriously, they put band-aids on it, poor thing." The odango hair girl observed. Indeed, two band-aids were plastered crisscrossed over the cat's forehead.

"I think it; is a she Usagi."

"Really, how can you tell?"

"Past experience."

"Huh?"

But before Urufu could explain, the cat suddenly started squirmy in Usagi's hands, pawing at the bandages on its head, meowing furiously.

"You want me to take them off? OK then, but it does look pretty cute on you." She started to pull the Band-Aids off.

"Careful Usagi, she might scratch you if you pull too hard."

Thankfully the band-aids came off without issue, but underneath was an unusual marking.

"Weird, a crescent shaped bald-spot." Usagi noted, before the feline leapt from her arms onto her head, then spring boarded off of it with a flip, to land on a nearby car.

From its position on the top of the car, the cat stared at Usagi, its red eyes focused squarely on her.

Usagi laughed nervously in response to the cat's intense gaze. It took a few steps towards her and blond haired girl took a step back in response.

"Well you see to be ok now, so we'll be leaving." She said hastily, before turned around to go, but stopped when she noticed something.

Urufu was gazing at the black cat, her eyes were fixed on its strange forehead mark, but the cat didn't seem to notice her staring, its attention was solely on Usagi.

The younger girl tugged on her friend sleeve. "Urufu are you ok? If we don't get going, we'll be late."

"Huh?" The older girl said, as she snap out of her state, and turned to her childhood friend. "Oh, sorry about that Usagi, that cat reminds of a cat my sister owns."

Urufu gave the feline another look, it was almost a glare, and then turned in the direction of Juuban Middle.

"But your right, we've got like four minutes before the final bell rings. We better run if we want to make it in time for homeroom attendance." And with that she took off at a sprint.

"Hey, wait for me!" Usagi yelled, running after her friend and catching up quickly, despite Urufu's head start.

All the while the cat continued to stare after the younger blond as she raced away, the look of humanlike curiosity still on her face.


	3. Bench Mark of Success

Usagi and Urufu stood outside the former's homeroom – Classroom 2-1. "Hah… Hah… Phew, looks like we made with two minutes to spare." The older blond said breathlessly, she was a bit winded from the run they had to take in order to avoid being late, Usagi herself was in a similar state if not worse.

"Thank goodness, I couldn't run anymore." Usagi replied, the younger girl was hunched over, face red with exertion.

"You should work on your stamina more, you're faster than me, but you get tired more easily." Urufu observed.

"I really don't want to talk about exercise right now, OK Urufu!" Usagi stated loudly as she tried to recover her breath.

"Sorry, Sorry." Urufu apologised, "Bad timing, bad timing". "Well I'll be going now. See you at lunch Usagi."

She turned and headed down the hallway in the direction of the stairs, in order to get to her own homeroom on the third floor.

"Ok, bye Urufu." Usagi said, waving goodbye.

"And don't fall asleep in class, Usagi." Urufu called back, a knowing tone in her voice.

"OK MOM!" The odango haired girl snapped back; obviously, Usagi was feeling much better.

The ribbon haired girl chuckled at her friend's retort and she continued sniggering as she turned the corner at the end of the hall.

_She's always teasing._ Usagi sighed mentally, sliding the door open and heading into the classroom. _But boy does she know me, so much for catching few Zs during one of the classes I do understand._

"Wow Usagi, you're here on time again today." Said a girls voice.

Said statement came from a girl with wavy, brownish-red hair, it stopped just above her shoulders and was accessorised with a teal bow in the back. She also had teal coloured eyes, a shade darker than her bow.

This is Naru Osaka, and other than Urufu and her sisters; she has known Usagi the longest and is her best friend.

"I suspect Urufu was involved, did she come to school today?." She asked

"Yay, Urufu and a glass of water… which she unapologetically poured on my head, while I was sleeping. And yes she did come to school today."

"Whoa, that's some way to wake someone up in the morning."

"I know right."

"But…" Naru considered.

"But what?" Usagi asked, giving her friend a look.

"You know how you are in morning; she probably went with what she thought was most effective."

"Naru, not you too." Usagi moaned. "You're supposed to be on my side."

"I am; and part of that is wanting you to improve on your faults, whatever they are." Naru explained.

Usagi only groaned in reply.

Naru sighed. "Anyway, I'm guessing since your oldest friend woke up early today you least ate breakfast?" she asked, deciding to change the subject.

The topic of food immediately perked blond girl right up. "Yep, chocolate chips waffles with butter and maple syrup. There were so delicious, I had eight of them, although I wish I could had more."

Naru eyes widen for a second, before settling into a pointed look. "Really Usagi you need to learn some self control and get a handle on that appetite of yours."

Usagi sweat dropped. "Naru you're my best friend, you know I don't have that kind of self control. Beside I'm a growing girl, I can't help." Usagi whined.

But Naru wasn't going to let her off easy.

"Maybe, but doesn't Urufu have the same huge appetite and a little more restraint." Naru stated. "So gaining a little self-discipline is well within your capabilities."

"She barely ate less than me at breakfast today."

"But did she go for seconds?"

Usagi didn't answer, which pretty much confirmed Naru's suspicions.

"Yay that's what I thought." Naru said to herself.

"Well at least there's no risk of you eating during class today, so that's a plus."

Usagi was about to tell her russet-red haired friend what she thought of that plus. But at that moment the classroom door opened and in walked a woman.

The woman was dressed in a magenta suit with a similar coloured skirt and heels; she had turquoise eyes and hair similar to Naru's, but it was a bit more brown than red and it reached down to the small of her back.

This is Miss Haruna Sakurada, Naru's and Usagi's homeroom, her students have the privilege of calling her by her first name.

"Alright settle down everyone, and please take your seats for attendance." The young teacher said.

Miss Haruna began calling names, in alphabetically order using first names. So this means that Usagi was among one of last names to be called and when she was, her homeroom teacher was surprised when she responded.

"Usagi, you're here on time again, that's the fourth time this week." What she said mirrored Naru's earlier statement almost word for word. Some of her classmates also looked in Usagi direction, disbelief on their faces.

_Why does everyone always say that, it's not my fault that all the other kids always got to school on time. _She mentally whined._ And please quit staring like your witnessing a miracle. I've already been early multiple times!_

"Well whatever you're doing dear; please keep it up." The auburn haired teacher said with an encouraging smile.

_Maybe you wouldn't say that if you actually knew what I was going through every morning._ The ponytailed girl mentally cried.

Usagi played over the past four days in her mind, during the first three days Urufu had physically removed her body from her warm bed using strength that Usagi never knew her friend possed until then. Today's soggy wake up had been something completely different, Urufu explanation for that had simply been, "I want to keep it fresh and exciting."

Usagi signed eternally, _the girl I consider my oldest friend is a weirdo._

With attendance over, the homeroom teacher reached into her desk and pulled a stack of papers.

The sight of them caused Usagi to swallow nervously, "Oh no, please don't tell those are…" she mumbled.

"Yesterday English tests have been marked."

_I knew it!_ The blond girl screamed on the inside.

In-addition to being their homeroom teacher, Miss Haruna also teaches English Language; unfortunately English is a school subject Usagi has much difficulty with.

"Please go over them in your free time and then try to improve in your areas of weaknesses." Miss Haruna said as handed out the marked papers.

Usagi watched the reactions of her classmates closest to her desk, judging by Naru and Umino faces they had passed with no issue.

_That's not surprising; Umino's a nerd and Naru is smart, pretty and rich. She's practically a princess._ She observed. Usagi placed her head in her hand and looked out the window, her mind drifting back to the dream she had this morning featuring the princess in a beautiful white dress.

_The princess in my dream was so beautiful; someday I going to become a princess and then I'll never have to go to school again._

So caught up in her vision of princess-hood and freedom from the mercilessly education system that it would bring, that Usagi wasn't aware that her teacher had already arrived at her desk with her test paper in hand.

Miss Haruna held out the marked script, waiting for the ponytailed girl to look up and take it from her hands.

But with no response from the daydreaming blond, her patient soon ended.

"Miss Tsukino!" she yelled.

"Yes!" Usagi's head shot up as she was pulled from her fantasy.

"What are daydreaming about?" The teacher asked.

"N… nothing, Miss Haruna." Usagi stuttered

The auburn haired woman's anger evaporated and she signed. "Seriously Usagi, you can be better." She gently criticized placing Usagi's test on her desk, blank side up. "And this proves it." She said.

Nervously, Usagi turned the test over, expecting the worst. What she saw stunned her into silence.

"Now usually I would ask you to do better next time." Miss Haruna explained. "But considering how different this score is from what you usually get, I'll just say keep on going." And with that she moved on to the next student.

Usagi had been quiet through her teacher's explanation and was still was after she gone. Her silence was starting to worry her friend. Naru reached out from desk behind Usagi and shook her shoulder.

"What happened Usagi, did your test go badly?" she asked concerned. Naru was worried that friend had gained a score so abysmal that that it had rendered her speechless.

Instead Usagi stood up and pointed her test paper skywards, then yelled at the top of her voice.

"65 PERCENT, ALRIGHT!" her shout was full of elation.

* * *

The sounds of Usagi joyous cries were loud enough that they reached all the way to the third floor above, specifically classroom 3–1, Urufu's class, which was located right below the Usagi's class.

A number of Urufu's classmates, including Urufu herself, looked down towards the floor; wondering what the source of the disturbance was.

Urufu, having quickly figured out the reason, gave them the answer.

"It is the sound of one bunny celebrating." She told them in sagely voice, a knowing smile on her face.

Not too surprising, her reply really didn't resolve any of their questions. But this was _Urufu_, so many of them were use to it.

* * *

**Success, much like Beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. I think many of us have been in Usagi's shoes**,** now and again**.


End file.
